The Red Sea Initiative is a program by Wycliffe Associates, a global Bible translation innovator that addresses the extreme persecution suffered by Christians across the Red Sea region. However, authorities have outlawed evangelical Christianity in parts of this region, with anyone suspected of spreading the Gospel facing harsh prison sentences or worse.
One example is in a country where its secretive and oppressive Communist government evokes comparisons with North Korea. This country has banned all religions other than state-mandated Islam. With the state tightly controlling even Islamist messages, there is no room for spiritual inquiry or dissent.
Seeking religious freedom, many evangelical believers joined others in crossing the border to a safer country. However, a recent conflict in the region between the two countries provided the army with the opportunity to cross the border and destroy some refugee camps. This led to many Christians being forced to return to their oppressive country, where a sizable number were imprisoned.
Unfortunately, while some Christians were ultimately released from prison, this was counterbalanced by other Christian groups being rounded up and incarcerated. Hundreds of Christians remain imprisoned for their beliefs, and they are not allowed to visit family members or stand trial. Indeed, many church members do not know anything about their families except that they disappeared and are presumed to be incarcerated or dead.
The prison conditions in this country are among the harshest in the world. When finally released, ex-prisoners often find that they have been blocked from society. In fact, women were reported detained by the military after several raids on non-sanctioned churches. The majority of the women were young mothers. They were sent to the harsh environs of a extremely isolated prison.
These harsh penalties for Christian beliefs and practices have resulted in a situation where Evangelical churches can only meet in secret and must be constantly on guard against government agents who seek to infiltrate meetings. With Bible sales regulated and tracked, believers must either smuggle in copies or, as is increasingly the case, access Scripture digitally online.
Unfortunately, these penalties are not the worst faced by evangelicals living in this area. In one region of Africa, radical Islamists have been known to execute those exposed as Bible worshippers and translators, along with their families. Given that another boarding country is predominately Muslim, the border is another hotspot of repression against Christians. Bible translators in this area have reported having their homes burned and their cattle taken. In addition, young men have been subjected to mob violence and abuse in local villages.
Despite the extreme savagery of opposition to the Word of Christ in parts of this region, believers have multiplied and persisted in faith. An example is a believer named Ebe*, who, at age 14, fled from intense violence engulfing his home region. Making it across the border, he was confronted by a military force that made him join their army and take up a weapon in the conflict he sought to escape.
A prisoner for a decade, he ultimately escaped to a refugee camp where a stranger handed him a Bible. The text was vital and easily digestible, written in his native language, and altered the course of his life forever. Today, Ebe participates in spreading the Gospel to other marginalized communities.
*Using Pseudonym for security reasons.
